Mermaid Thighs Are the Body-Positive Trend to Know About

The "thigh gap" is that terrible social media trend that promoted a near-unattainable ideal while body-shaming the women who didn't have it. If your thighs naturally don't touch, great! If your thighs naturally touch, also great! It's just the way you're born and your body is, and buying into the "thigh gap" trend shames people whose bodies are, well, their bodies. Handfuls of thoughtful takedowns of the concept have abounded, from model Iskra Lawrence's articulate mic drop to the satire jewelry line Tgap, and a whole campaign called "Don't Mind the Gap." We're also slowly, but surely, seeing real bodies being represented in ad campaigns, like with Aerie's unretouched ads featuring Barbie Ferreira.

And now we're pleased to report that a new body-positive trend is seeming to arise: Meet #MermaidThighs, a hashtag spawned by confident women with confident bodies and thighs that actually touch. The social movement has taken off on Twitter and Instagram, where women are adding to the growing conversation on what women's bodies should look like (the only answer: women's bodies — see: plural, not singular).